Monthly Archives: March 2014

Scrambled Meat with Cabbage and Cauliflower Mash

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I had some leftover cabbage from fish tacos and was trying to decide what to do with it. It was a coin toss between Guatemalan hot dogs (which I love everything about but the hot dog) and Scrambled meat. I was cooking so you can see who won.

This is a classic recipe from my childhood with some basic modifications. My mom didn’t have a recipe so its a whole lot of a little of this and a little of that but it is delicious and something we will be bringing into the regular rotation. Its a perfect Spring dish because it incorporates some spring foods but the meat helps to keep you warm on days when it should be warmer than it actually is.

What you need:

1/2 head of green cabbage

5 slices of bacon ( used nitrate free turkey bacon)

1 red pepper

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup water

pepper to taste

1 pound ground beef (preferably grassfed)

1/2 purple onion

3 cloves of garlic

head of cauliflower

salt and garlic powder to taste

What you do:

Start with cooking bacon until crispy.

Meanwhile, shred cabbage, chop red pepper, onion and garlic.

Make dressing for cabbage by combining water, apple cider vinegar, honey, black pepper. Set aside.

Crumble bacon and add to cabbage and red pepper. Drain bacon grease and warm dressing and pour over cabbage salad.

Brown ground beef, add onion and garlic half way through. Steam cauliflower with a clove of garlic. When cauliflower is tender put in blender and blend with 2 tablespoons butter salt and garlic powder to taste until smooth.

To assemble meal start with a layer of cauliflower mash. Add cabbage salad next. Top with ground beef.

Enjoy!

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Where Did My Cheese Go?

I’ve been driving myself batty trying to make a few very life altering decisions. I am one for meditating on something until I feel completely right about what the decision is and then I go for it. When I was younger the meditation time was much shorter and I wavered much less than I seem to be doing now.

A friend passed along this quick read, Who Moved my Cheese? that is pretty rich in provoking thoughts. I shared it on the facebook page and am sharing here again in case you missed it.

At first I found it so simplistic I didn’t think it was going to do anything for me, you know because I’m so full of depth. (ha ha)

Then a lot of insight hit me and I took some time to meditate on the thoughts from Who Moved My Cheese? I started with these headings in case you want to use for yourself.

What do I want?

What am I afraid of?

How do I feel right now?

What do I want to do? Why am I not doing it? (see also What am I afraid of?)

When am I happiest? Most at peace?

When do I feel most accomplished?

This also got me thinking about a phrase a teacher of mine once said often, “awareness precedes change.” Awareness is the first step. You can’t make a change unless you are aware that a change needs to be made first. While I knew on some level the answers to the above questions some of my answers were shocking to myself (and some also a little silly)

I’m sharing here and would love to have a conversation about what you came up with too.

 

Butternut Squash Lasagna with Tomato Basil Chicken Sausage

Lyz sent me this recipe to try and I finally got around to it. It a great recipe for spring!

I was a little nervous about the butternut squash noodles as I’m not usually good at cutting squash but it was actually not as hard as I thought it would be.

What you need:

1 small butternut squash

1/2 onion

3 cloves of garlic

15 oz pizza sauce (or tomato sauce, your preference)

3 cups of spinach

1 red pepper

1 orange pepper

package of tomato basil chicken sausage

fresh basil

1/2 cup shredded cheese

What you do:

Preheat oven to 400F

Remove sausage from casing and brown. Add onions and garlic when sausage is about half way done.

Meanwhile, cut the ends off of the squash. Peel skin. Cut squash in half width wise and de-seed. Then cut each piece length wise. Cut into “noodle” planks.

Chop peppers with a handful of fresh basil and add to pizza sauce.

Put a layer of sauce at the bottom of a 8×13 glass pan.

Add a layer of squash, chicken sausage, 1/2 spinach and sauce.

Add a layer of squash, chicken sausage, 1/2 spinach and another layer of squash.

Add the remaining sauce over the lasagna and sprinkle with cheese if you desire. I used 2 handfuls of quattro formaggio cheese.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Let me know what you think. 🙂

Kiwi Salsa

I posted a picture of this delicious recipe last night on facebook and a few of you requested the recipe so here it is. It was even better than expected and its a perfect spring food for 3 reasons: its green (color of Spring), its sour (taste of Spring), it has cilantro (liver cleanser).

I got it from The Shrinking Kitchen along with this blackened tilapia recipe. It was better than my favorite restaurant fish tacos. Super simple to make, you won’t be disappointed. I think the salsa would be great with chips too. Let me know what you think.

What you need:

4 kiwis, peeled and diced

1 roma tomato, diced

1 jalapeno, deseeded (if you are a wuss and don’t like super spicey)

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 bunch of cilantro

juice of 2 limes

salt to taste

(you could also add avocado chunks if you’re eating with chips)

What you do:

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Put in fridge until ready to use.

Enjoy!

 

 

Its Time for Spring Cleaning

It seems as though the worst of winter is now behind us.

Now is a great time to sweep away winter! What can you do?

Open the windows! Get that stagnant winter air out of your house. If its cold out try opening just one or two windows at a time for 5 minutes or so. (This a great time to dust and get winter out of your house)

Deep clean your house! I love using Thieves House Hold cleaner for cleaning the house. Its great on just about every surface and it smells lovely without any toxic chemicals.  Dust the base boards, ceiling fans, behind the refrigerator and other furniture and all those other places you often ignore or forget.

Home Diffuser

I also like to use my diffuser to purify the air especially with all the sickness that has gone around this winter. For my spring cleaning I use Purification. Purification is an essential oil blend that contains citronella, lemongrass, rosemary, melaleuca, lavendin (hybrid lavender), and myrtle. It’s a great blend to purify the air and can also be used to relieve bug bites or as a natural bug repellant. It helps combat fungus and mold too. If you don’t have a diffuser you can put a couple of drops of Purification in a spray bottle of water and mist into the air.

We’ve also had an ant problem this winter. Put 10 drops of purification in 4 oz of water and spray the ants directly as well as their entry points to keep them away.

I also love sprinkling a few drops of purification on the carpet with baking soda before vacuuming to freshen the floor space as well.

 

Clean out your closets! Start to put winter clothes away or to the back of your closet making room for spring clothes. Throw away anything you haven’t worn in awhile or that no longer fits.

Take inventory of your clutter! Donate or recycle things you aren’t using or are broken.

Nurture your house plants. Clear away any dried leaves, replenish the soil, compost any plants that may have died.

You know what they say, “A clean house, a clean mind!” Happy Spring Cleaning!

Garlic Lime White Bean Soup with Arugula

This is a great Spring recipe. If you are looking for the benefits of a “liver detox” whithout the suffering that goes into most detoxes give this recipe a try.

What you need:

9 cloves of garlic

9 limes

5 cups of chicken or veggie broth

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

2 cans of white beans, rinsed

1 cup rice, optional

2 cups arugula

avocado

What you do:

Add a teaspoon of ghee to your stock pot and cook garlic until fragrant.

Add juice of limes, stock and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cover for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile cook rice in separate pot.

Turn stove off and add rice, arugula and cilantro just before serving so that greens are just wilted.

Garnish with sliced avocado.

Serves 4.

St Patrick’s Day Shake (healthy shamrock shake)

There is a recipe floating around facebook from the detoxinista for a healthy version of the shamrock shake. Dr. Scott printed the recipe for patients to take home and told me it tastes just like a mint chocolate chip shake. Did you know there are over 54 ingredients in a Shamrock Shake? That’s nuts! This version is “paleo” and vegan too so if you’ve been missing your shakes because your allergic to dairy or trying to eat better here is a great alternative that doesn’t feel like an alternative. I tried it on Thursday with my mom and oh my goodness was it delicious!

Give this a try and tell me what you think!

What you need: (this makes 3 small shakes)

2 cup almond milk

1/2 avocado, pitted

2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach

2 drops of peppermint essential oil (from here of course) or you can use peppermint extract for a more pepperminty experience add an extra drop or two this is more of a subtle background mint flavor

10-12 soft Medjool dates, pitted

2 handfuls of ice

What you do:

Put all the above ingredients in a high speed blender. Blend until everything is smooth and creamy. If you want sweeter add more dates. Enjoy immediately.

Thanks Detoxinista! (p.s. she has a bunch of other yummy recipes too!)

How to Sprout Lentils

In yogapuncture for Spring we talked about how eating sprouted foods in the spring is a great idea because it mimics exactly what our environment is doing. (want more info? you can purchase March yogapuncture for $15, message me how). Sprouts are packed with nutrition and energy, just what we need in the spring time. Plus they are super easy to do yourself. You can buy a sprout-ing kit but probably have everything you need at home, you don’t need to spend much money to get started.

What you need:

A mason jar or other class container (sprouts will double in size so make sure your container is big enough)

2 cups of water

2/3 cup of lentils or other legume, seed etc

cheese cloth or paper towel (cheese cloth is preferable) I didn’t have any cheese cloth to start so I just used paper towel to cover but the cheese cloth makes it much easier to drain the water without disturbing your lentils.

What you do:

Put your lentils in your mason jar and soak in water over night. Cover with cheese cloth or paper towel don’t put in an air tight container.

After you soak the lentils over night drain the water completely first and then rinse with fresh water and drain again.

sproutlings on day 2

Do this until your lentils sprout to your desired size.

Take your lentils out of the jar and lay out on a towel to pat dry, place in a dry jar with a lid and keep refrigerated.

Eat and enjoy!